Circle and. Kajabi: Which Is Best for You? |

Circle was founded in the year 2020 by a group of Teachable employees who saw the need for a web-based community platform to supplement Teachable's course offerings. Over time, it added a course platform of its own. Kajabi launched a decade earlier in the year 2010. Kenny Rueter wanted an online sales platform to sell his lawn-sprinkler he constructed, and as time passed it evolved into a well-known course platform.

Both Circle as well as Kajabi make up an enormous amount of real estate in the creator economy. So if you're looking for the perfect location for your business, you might be wondering which is the right fit.

In this piece we'll look at the differences between Circle and Kajabi. Because there's a lot of similarity in the products they offer, we'll explore both on the basis of:

• Courses        
  
• Communities and Memberships        
  
• Marketing & Business Tools        
  
• Apps        
  

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Circle Vs. Kajabi: Comparison Chart

How do you decide

It's important to understand that these platforms are designed for different things: classes vs. communities. Every one is better suited to the purpose they were designed. That means the primary issue will always be the type of building you're building

• Circle provides a superior platform for communities as well as the ability to join.        
  
• Kajabi is an overall superior platform to use to use for Asynchronous classes as well as marketing.      
  

However, if you're crossing an undefined line between the two, read on for more details on how each ranks for the various attributes.

Circle vs. Kajabi

Courses

Kajabi

Kajabi is well-known for its course-building and its LMS gives you a lot to do with. It supports different content types including audio, video and text, as well as quizzes, surveys, and downloads. The format table of contents is well-suited as well, and it allows you to preview lessons before launching. The LMS has choices for drip content, as well as the addition of questions and assessment.

Kajabi is also a good choice (sort of) to stream live classes but there are some limitations. Livestreaming isn't a native feature of the Kajabi platform for courses. You'll need to use a third-party software similar to YouTube. However, Kajabi does have a separate app-Kajabi 2.0-that includes livestreaming as well as live-streamed meetings (we'll go over it later). This does make it possible to incorporate an option for live streaming to your course (it will open in a brand new window) The recording can be pinned onto your course's page. Because Kajabi includes email, members can get informed when a livestream is going to begin and join.

In the end, Kajabi was an early adopter with some AI tools that generate content. You can use it to create:

• Lesson Content        
  
• Course Outlines        
  
• Sales Email Copy        
  
• Copy of the Landing Page        
  
• Media Content Media Content        
  
• Sales Video Script        
  

However, these features aren't embedded into the platform. This means they are accessible to the public (which is great), but they don't offer anything you couldn't do with ChatGPT. ChatGPT account.

One final stand-out feature of Kajabi is the course pages. This feature Circle doesn't have. You can customize courses pages by dragging and dropping, adding sections and building a course under your personal brand. It's similar to building a website that your course can live in (Circle uses space for courses instead). The details of these will be discussed in the next section.

Circle

In Circle offering a course happens by launching a course space. Course experiences are built by constructing a table of contents (an Model of an LMS) which can then be connected to different community spaces. The course platform can support audio videos, text and downloadable content to offer material for different styles of learning. Course instructors are able to create asynchronous course material and preview the content before launching it.

In addition, Circle can handle live courses with its built-in livestreaming as well as a community component (more about this later). This allows a variety of possibilities for synchronous interactions including live-streamed classes, office hours as well as Q&As.

Which is better?

For course-related platforms Both Circle and Kajabi have both pros and cons. So the one that's best for your specific needs will depend on the type of course you're looking to teach.

Kajabi is a better choice to... Course creators that want to design simple courses (asynchronous) featuring included marketing pages, as well as web design flexibility. The platform isn't as robust in live-based courses or courses due to the lack of connection between community and course capabilities (which we'll cover in a subsequent ).

Circle is ideal in the case of... instructor who require live instruction within a community, or live experience. If you're planning to do anything live with students, Circle has a better integration between live features and courses than Kajabi. If you're interested in an online community, Circle has even better integration.

One thing to keep in mind is that Circle offers more restrictions on storage as well as additional charges. Since courses count toward the limits mentioned above, you could be charged extra for larger library of courses.

Community and Memberships

Kajabi

Kajabi has communities as well as memberships, however they aren't the most effective features. For a long time the community function of Kajabi was restricted to the forum feature that lives on Kajabi's course platform. It was very basic and could even be used to add a discussion forum for an existing course.

However, Kajabi recently acquired a company called Vibely which will provide it with essential community functions.

The positive:

• The upgrade adds a chat function to Kajabi along with a variety of synchronous and non-synchronous tools to connect. This included newsfeeds, events as well as chat, DM Live rooms. Links to your community could be placed to a landing page for your course.      
  
• Kajabi uses a space function for organizing content that they refer to as circles (not to be mistaken for Circle.so). Circles are distinctive spaces which can be used to store different types of content.      
  
• Kajabi 2.0 provides improved member directories, with customized profiles showing member interests and accomplishments.        
  

The negative:

• It's still a different platform (not included in Kajabi). Kajabi 2.0 requires a separate login and distinct app. Members need 2 different apps to access an online course and community.      
  

Circle

Circle's communities are built around a feature called Spaces. We discussed a course Space in the previous post. Creators on Circle can also include an event space as well as community, post and chat Spaces. Content can be posted such as audio, video, podcasts or files as well as content from other platforms with Circle's embed options. The community content can be searchable.

Contrary to Kajabi, Circle has embedded AI writing tools in its platform of courses. This means that it can improve communication and writing. Circle comes with member profiles which can be turned off or switched on. members lists may be set up all-inclusive or a specific space.

Then, the Circle community is equipped with personal home feeds and automatic weekly digests to let members know what's happening in the community. Finally, Circle has moderation and admin tools built in to aid in the growth of a community.

Which is the best?

Circle is a more community-oriented platform. It was designed for communities as well as memberships. Kajabi is trying to catch the latest features but using 2 different apps for what Circle does in one is not a good idea for many creators.

Marketing & Business

Kajabi

Kajabi is a great platform for marketing. It has a number of tools for hosting courses as well as creating sales. This includes a page-builder with drag-and-drop construction (we mentioned above) and pages for different applications: opt-in page, downloading pages, sale page, for example.

Kajabi also has integrated marketing and email for selling classes, as well as pre-built sales funnels. And the funnels connect to email that can handle audience segmentation, automations, and manage subscribers. Kajabi is a platform for sales, Kajabi offers bundles, coupons, trial trials for free, and subscriptions. The platform also comes with features to maximize revenue like sales, abandoned carts recovery, and support for multi-currency currencies.

Circle

Circle isn't equipped with a lot of marketing features built-in, and isn't as strong as Kajabi here. There is the possibility of adding a landing page to the course, with some modification of both the layout and content; these can include a preview of the course. But Circle is not meant to make a website as Kajabi did.

When a user is in the community, Circle has some integrated digests and email notifications that will keep people up to date on what's going on within the community. These messages are white-labeled for the higher levels of Circle's service. In addition, Circle doesn't have a built-in email tool, so it's necessary to connect an email software using Zapier.

Similar to Kajabi, Circle can manage packages and pay in a variety of currencies. You can connect classes as well as community (end events) together for sales.

Price

    Kajabi Price

• $69/mo - Kickstarter (1 product, 1 funnel + 250 contacts)        
  
• $149/month - Basic (3 products, 3 funnels + 10,000 contacts)        
  
• $199/mo - Growth (15 products, 15 funnels, + 25,000 contacts)        
  
• $399/mo - Pro (100 products, 100 funnels + 100,000 contacts)        
  

    Circle

• $49/mo + fee for transactions of 4% - the Basic Plan (Community only)        
  
• $99/mo plus 2.2% fee - Pro Plan (add classes, livestreaming and brand)        
  
• $29/month + 1 percent fees Business plan (add workflows including custom fields, email white-labels and AI assister)        
  
• $399/mo + .5 percent fees for Enterprise (add SSO, analytics, 10 admin as well as 100 mods)        
  

Which is better?

Kajabi is undoubtedly superior when it comes to course features. It comes with integrated funnels for marketing designed for a variety of applications. The platform has basic email program that allows you to tag and target subscribers using a different method than you could use Circle. And it has more selling features integrated in the platform that make it easier for creators to earn.

However, Kajabi is also more costly. Therefore, if you're planning to purchase Kajabi, ensure that you'll need the functions it provides.

Apps

Kajabi

Kajabi actually has 2 main apps. The Course app, and the Community app. It also needs an additional app to perform community analytics. These are the apps available:

Courses: It is Kajabi's most popular app, which includes the course infrastructure, including video, text, as well as the LMS. It also has the legacy Kajabi community features. It works well for asynchronous course.

Community: This was the Vibely application, but it's now rebranded to Kajabi 2.0. The app offers community-oriented features like chat, conferencing, and live-time interactions.

Kajabi Creator  It application is designed to manage your Kajabi company, that provides statistics and analytics that help you comprehend what's going on in your company and administration.

Kajabi Branded Apps The feature is a new feature for Kajabi that offers branded apps available in the App Store as well as the Google Play Store. These include branded push notifications. It's also important to note that apps with branded names provide the sole way to receive courses as well as communities in a single app.

Circle

Circle was a company that had an iOS application for several years. However, their Android app was only launched in 2023. However, the app is highly rated (4.5 ratings on Google Play and 4.9 on the App Store). Also, unlike Kajabi it's all within Circle is in one application (courses and communities ).

Circle is also launching the option of branded apps for its app, meaning you can get an application under your personal name. It brings Circle's classes as well as community all in one spot. Circle Plus comes with branded push notifications. There's still time to test, but Circle is developing an app specifically for Exit Five (a B2B-based marketing community). ).

Which one is more effective?

Both apps are excellent. The issue that Kajabi requires a number of apps to accomplish what Circle does with one is an attack against it. If you only wanted an online course that was synchronous, the Kajabi app would be fine. But if you want courses and community together, Circle is probably a more suitable option. In Kajabi users, they would need to install two apps, which seems like it would hurt the engagement of members.

If you choose to use a branded application, Circle gets the slight edge. They've got a more successful performance record (Kajabi was just launched). Furthermore, Kajabi makes you pay for an app that is branded for your classes as well as a community-something Circle already does.

It's the verdict

Let's go back to where we started. Which one is superior, Circle vs. Kajabi? To be honest, both platforms have strong points. However, both platforms possess some major shortcomings.

• Kajabi: Has awesome asynchronous course delivery as well as solid marketing chops, but makes the live experience via a completely separate platform and app. In exchange for revenue, you sacrifice in engagement. Kajabi's AI capabilities don't have anything that you can be proud of- basically a white labeled ChatGPT.    
  
• Circle: Doesn't offer as much course or marketing potential as Kajabi but is more organized in its community function. However, it is still Circle requires hosting communities and classes in different spaces (AKA distinct parts in your local community). Members have to click around to locate the appropriate spaces.    
  

Do you want a more effective alternative?

is the top-rated platform for community on G2's website. It is home to communities and classes for brands and figures like Tony Robbins, Mel Robbins, Jim Kwik, Marie Forleo, Matthew Hussey, TED Nuun, as well as Mindbody.

Here's what makes Mighty distinct from Circle as well as Kajabi.

Streamlined Experiences

Both Kajabi as well as Circle are unable to integrate UX between courses and community. Kajabi due to the fact that these events are hosted across different platforms and applications. Also, Circle as they are held within different spaces-members must click around to find the correct event or Space for a course.

With Mighty Spaces, spaces are created to hold any type of content you want. By turning off features like Activity Feed Chat, Activity Feed, Table of Contents (traditional LMS), People Explorer (Members) Recurring Events, One-time Events Pages (an article) or highlighted hashtags.

This is what this is:

All that is left to do is put everything at the same time. Events and courses. Chat, community and events.

It leads to higher engagement and better UX with members who don't have to click around to try to locate what they're searching for.

Software designed for engagement

Last year We discovered that we could predict with a 93% accuracy, which communities would succeed and which failed.

All it came down to was the members. Are they able to meet? Do they speak to one another?

Member connection is a better indicator of success than the host's content they make.

So, we designed our application to improve members' connections.

It is a result that:

• A People Explorer that helps members find others who share similar experiences and backgrounds and even reside in the same town.        
  
• A welcome checklist as well as Profile assist functions to aid new members get off to the right start.        
  
• The feature is a "Show Similarities" feature that uses AI to show you the things you share with other members. The feature can even initiate an online conversation by clicking.      
  

Aiding hosts to improve their home
The engagement features aren't just for members.

Mighty is also a software that helps Hosts boost engagement, like it's...

• Infinite Question Generator that produces discussion questions, and then automatically posts approved ones. The engagement continues even when you're not online.    
  
• "Activity Aid" to identify members who are gone and then automatically reconnect them with a click.      
  

Another awesome community and course highlights

• Quick community development. Enter a few phrases into the Mighty Co-Host(tm) and instantly have a Big Idea initial brand identity as well as your very first Space. (Try for free)    
  
• Writing prompts and improvements with"make it better "make-it-better" text editor.        
  
• Course outline in a flash and hashtag suggestions.        
  
• An native ConvertKit integration to integrate community/courses, email, and more than 2,000 embeds to integrate.        
  

The top branded apps

Additionally, you can purchase your classes and communities on your own customized apps that are under your brand within the App Store as well as the Google Play Store. Mighty Pro has built 400+ branded apps for several of the most prestigious producers and brands.

Get branded notifications and livestreaming, design support and proactive enhancements by the top-ranked community-focused app development team: Learn more here .

If you're looking to start courses and/or community with Mighty Try it! Give the service a shot! You can try it for absolutely free during 14 days (no need for credit cards). ).